8. Amy
Chapter 8
Amy
F inding Novak’s house was much easier the second time around, although I couldn’t fully explain how I got there. It wasn’t like I knew my way around any better than the first time. I wondered if it was his blood somehow leading me back to that delicious source for another taste.
I wasn’t especially hungry, but the prospect of tasting Novak’s blood again was partially what spurred me to slip out of the Blood ‘til Dawn compound that night. The other parts, such as his beautiful home, the simple, easy conversation, and the pressing need to get away, were just as significant. But going out for blood was a convenient excuse if I needed one.
I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving, nor did anyone ask where I was going or try to stop me. Tavia was giving me space, as she would put it, but I knew she just didn’t want to deal with me. The other Blood ‘til Dawn vampires seemed to feel similarly, which was just fine by me.
There were other people who wouldn’t treat me like I was a bomb about to go off. At least, I hoped there was.
I reached Novak’s house without incident and used the heavy brass knocker on the door to announce my presence.
A thread of insecurity coiled through my chest as I waited. What if he didn’t want to see me? I could have made an epic mistake by coming here. Thorne forbade us from seeing each other, but no one at Blood ‘til Dawn seemed to actually care much about what I did. And no one seemed eager to explain all this complicated vampire clan history they alluded to all the time.
The door opened to reveal a human woman who looked to be in her mid-forties. She wore a white chef’s jacket and the furrow between her brow softened when she saw me.
“Well, look who came back around.” A wide smile came to her face. “What can I do for you, Miss Amy?”
I was taken aback that she knew my name. Novak must have told her. “Hi. Um, nice to see you again. Is Novak home?”
“He’s not. He stepped out for a bit.”
Before I could feel any shred of disappointment, the chef widened the door and stepped aside to let me through. “Come in and wait for him. He shouldn’t be long. I’ll fix you something.”
“Oh no, that’s okay. I don’t want to impose. I just wanted to see if he was home.”
“Nonsense. I think he’ll like the surprise.” A smirk curved her mouth. “I’m Joanne, by the way. Call me Jo. I don’t think we formally met last time.”
“Nice to meet you, Jo. Your spread was incredible last time. Just delicious.”
She beamed with pride. “I’m glad you liked it. I’m playing around some more and could use a taster. Between you and me, vampires have no palates for actual food. Come in.”
“Well, as long as I’m not intruding?—”
“You got cement blocks on your feet, girl? Get in the damn house.”
Her sharp tone surprised me, but the smile softened it. Seeing as she left no argument, I crossed the threshold, chuckling sheepishly.
“Lourna!” Jo hollered as she closed the door and crossed the foyer. “We’ve got a visitor!” To me, she pointed at the kitchen island where I sat last time. “Sit. You like pastrami?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had it,” I admitted, sliding onto a stool.
“Ah.” Her dark eyes lit up like she understood something. “Never ventured out to the human world, huh?”
“A few times, not a whole lot. My community was pretty self-sufficient, but we went to the human world once every few months for supplies. The closest place to us was a little town in Oregon.”
“Oh yeah, you’re from that little humans-only settlement in the Ribs, right?” Jo squinted. “What’s it called?”
“Sapien,” I said. “Yep, the last settlement in Sanguine is still run by humans, for humans.”
“How’d you end up with the… ?” Jo drew small circles in the air, indicating my eyes, probably.
My throat tightened. I’d avoided talking about it until now, but couldn’t exactly dance around the subject with Jo’s blunt questions.
“Our settlement was attacked and they got me.” I shrugged, as if I could feel casual about such a thing. “Someone was able to call my best friend, and she came to help. She’d been chosen as the sacrifice for the Half-Century Selection, so she brought Blood ‘til Dawn with her. She begged her mate to bring me back and,” I shrugged again, “here I am.”
Jo whistled as she swiftly sliced through a large cut of meat. “That’s some wild shit right there. Must be hard.”
“Thanks. I… You know, I’m figuring it out. Where are you from?” I was eager to get the subject off of myself.
Jo glanced up with a grin. “New York, baby. Born and raised.” Her accent made it sound like New Yawk.
“Really?” It was actually rare that I met a human from the human world. “How did you end up in Sanguine? And as a chef for a vampire?”
Almost everyone in Sapien had been born there. All we’d ever known had been a world of vampires, shifters, witches, and magic that the vast majority of humans didn’t believe in. My old home has prided itself on preserving human culture and community. Unlike other humans who had found their way into this world, we didn’t conform to the world of the supernaturals. We remained independent and had done so successfully for centuries. The thought of Sapien made me incredibly homesick.
“There’s an entrance to this world at Niagara Falls. Almost twenty years ago, my drunk dumbass fell into the Niagara River. It was so fuckin’ cold and I thought I was gonna die. But I was okay with it, you know? My life was a fuckin’ mess.” Jo took out a loaf of bread and began slicing it. “Felt myself sinking, drowning. I must have gotten right under one of the falls because it felt like I was getting the shit beat out of me. Next thing I know, I’m washed up on the shore of this serene, mountain lake. The water was as smooth as glass.” She turned to get more items out of the fridge and laughed. “Definitely not New York.”
“Where were you?”
“The Crown, north part of Sanguine. That’s where Novak’s clan is from. And I was lucky enough to run into him while he was up there, doing science or whatever he does.” She cackled again as she placed slices of cheese on the bread slices. “This poor man must have lost his shit seeing a soaking wet and filthy stumbling human around. But he took me in, patient as a saint while I lost my shit over vampires being real, then gave me a home and a job. I’ve been here ever since.”
“Wow. Have you never wanted to go home?” I asked.
A few days before the attack on Sapien, a woman from the human world, Heather, had stumbled upon our settlement in a similar way. All she wanted was to go back home. She disappeared one day, assumedly back to her world. I wondered if she ever made it back and was okay.
“Nah.” Jo brought the two bread slices together in a towering sandwich. “I love New York, but my old life woulda killed me if I’d gone back. I got a second chance here, kind of like you.” She plated the sandwich and placed it in front me. “Eat up. Tell me what you think.”
“What is it?” The bread was light brown in color, the sliced meat bright red and tender.
“Pastrami on rye. It’s a New York staple. Loved by humans and hopefully brusang.” Jo’s smile was slow, confident. “Cured the meat myself. Go ahead.”
I took a bite, chewed, and moaned at the flavors hitting my tongue. The combination of salt, fat, and spices was perfect. The cured meat sated the bloodthirsty part of me, for now. I would need blood soon, but this would hold me over in the meantime.
“Oh my God, Jo, that’s so good!” I’d barely swallowed the first bite before taking another. “Novak is so lucky he found you.”
Jo laughed, a sound I was enjoying the more time I spent with her. “His tastes leave me limited, but I’ve missed making human food. I’m glad there’s someone else to enjoy it now.”
I just swallowed the last bites of the sandwich when I heard a rumbling outside that grew increasingly louder until it seemed to be right outside the front door. There was no mistaking that sound—a motorcycle engine.
My heart jumped into my throat and I froze. Did someone from Blood ‘til Dawn find out I was here and come to get me?
“Ah, speak of the devil.” Jo appeared calm as she took my plate and wiped down the counter. “Sounds like the boss is home.”
The sound cut off abruptly and a few minutes later, the heavy front door swung open. Novak’s footfalls echoed over the floor, long strides eating up the space between each step, which came to a slow stop as he entered the kitchen.
He was still dressed immaculately with black trousers and a matching waistcoat over a white long-sleeved shirt. Again, his sleeves were rolled up past his elbows and he held a black leather jacket in one hand. His long, silver-blond hair was disheveled, a little wild. It suited him extremely well, like he was born to be aristocratic and a rebel.
“Um, hi.” I swallowed. “Again.”
“Hello.” He turned and hung up the leather jacket on a coat tree just outside the foyer. “Didn’t think I’d see you here again.”
My whole body tensed like a rabbit about to bolt from a predator. “I can go.”
“Right after you’ve eaten? No, stay.” Novak tugged his leather gloves off as he meandered toward the island. “I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
Jo’s back was turned, but I swore I heard a snickering, “knew it,” under her breath.
Novak’s eyes slid toward her with a suspicious gaze. Before he could ask any questions, I blurted out, “I didn’t know you rode a motorcycle.”
His gaze returned to me, amusement dancing in his red eyes. “Well I can’t let Blood ‘til Dawn have all the fun, can I?”
The smile grew across my face before I could stop it. “Definitely not.”
He reached the edge of the counter and braced his palms wide on the dark marble. “And should I be concerned about them crashing through my door at any minute?”
“I don’t think so.” I shrugged and wiped my hands on a napkin. “I’m not worth the trouble.”
“Why do you say that?”
I paused before answering. He looked genuinely baffled as to why I wouldn’t be a priority to Blood ‘til Dawn.
“I’m just not anybody important. They don’t know what to do with me, so nobody cares if I stay or go.”
Novak curled his fingers and tapped his knuckles gently on the counter. “A vampire clan is supposed to look after all its members, both immediate and extended.”
“They’re also busy preparing for the blood mate ceremony,” I pointed out. “So again, I’m not a huge priority at the moment.”
“Ah, that’s right,” Novak said like he’d forgotten.
“Are you going?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“I don’t blame you,” I scoffed.
A smile tugged at the corner of Novak’s lips. “Aren’t you going? It’s a big day for your friend, right?”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice.”
Novak pulled out the stool from under the counter and sat down. He seemed closer to me, resting his elbows on the marble surface and leaning in slightly. “Are you still angry at her for bringing this change upon you?”
I sighed, tilting my head back to admire the pendant lights hanging from the ceiling. “I don’t know. Honestly, I’m tired of feeling mad at her. I’m tired of feeling depressed and resentful of what I am now, but I’m not ready to completely forgive her yet.” I folded my arms on the counter, speaking aloud the thoughts forming in my head. “And I feel bad because I know she feels awful over what happened to me. She’s my best friend and I don’t want her to suffer.” I frowned. “But she’s found the love of her life and is perfectly happy in Blood ‘til Dawn, so it’s not like she’s suffering that much.”
“Relationships are complicated,” Novak said with a sympathetic nod. “Especially our longest and closest ones. Sometimes it’s the people we love most who hurt us more than we ever thought possible.”
When I looked at him, it was impossible for my gaze not to travel up the length of his exposed forearms. Jesus, since when did I become a forearm fetishist?
“Sounds like you speak from experience,” I mused.
He laughed dryly. “Yes, and I don’t have many regrets, but one of the big ones is holding onto a lot of unresolved feelings toward my family. And as you can see,” he lifted and spread his hands out with a wry expression, “they’re all gone. I can’t even say I loved everyone in my clan, but it’s… haunting to have resentments and old wounds never be resolved. You don’t want that.” He brought his hands down and straightened. “Even with a nearly thousand-year lifespan, you never know when Temkra will take you to eternal rest.”
It was good advice that I was taking very much to heart. But my brain snagged on certain details.
“So, what Cyan said the other day, about your clan being monsters?”
Novak’s eyes closed for a long moment and he nodded. “It’s true. We started noticing it a couple hundred years ago. No one knows for sure, but I believe it’s a disease, possibly viral in nature. Most people call it Rathka’s Curse. But all of my clan succumbed to it, except for me. They’re… unrecognizable, impossible to reason with. And yes, they’ve been known to cannibalize.” He let out a short scoff. “A good example of being technically alive but not living a life. They may as well be dead. They’re certainly not vampires, or even people, anymore.”
“Holy shit,” I breathed, staring at him in shock. “Novak, that’s terrible. Are you saying they’re out there but you can’t help them in any way?”
He ran a hand through his hair, suddenly looking exhausted. “Hasn’t been for a lack of trying. I’ve dedicated the last hundred years of my life to finding a cure. But nothing so far has worked. As far as most are concerned, I’m the last of my line.”
A hundred years. I couldn’t imagine being completely alone for that long. How could he stand it? I assumed he was single, but maybe I was wrong. Whichever the case, his relationship status definitely wasn’t my business. Although once the thought crossed my mind, I was suddenly insatiably curious to know.
A mirthless smile crossed his face as he watched me. “Are you questioning your decision to show up unannounced to my house?”
“No. I mean, I’ll go if I’m bothering you. I don’t want to be a nuisance, but I just… That’s so awful, Novak. I can’t even imagine losing everyone.”
“You’re not a bother at all.” He paused as if he were going to say more but decided against it. “And you might as well know what the story is with my clan. All of Sanguine knows, so now you’re in the loop.”
He tried to sound nonchalant, but it couldn’t have been easy to talk about. That coldness from before had returned, and I wondered if it was a mask he put on to shove down his emotions. If that was true, maybe he didn’t intend to seem so callous when we parted at Blood ‘til Dawn’s compound.
Or maybe I was just desperately looking for a connection that wasn’t there.
“I’m really sorry about your family,” I said. “And that you never resolved things with them. You make a good point. I know Tavia’s heart was in the right place when she had me changed, I just… ”
To my surprise, Novak leaned toward me and gently knocked his shoulder against mine. The contact was one thing that sent my skin flushing with heat, but the scent of him was something else. That warm, masculine fragrance invaded my senses and hit my brain like a drug. I felt my fangs lengthen and kept my lips firmly clamped shut to hide them.
“I’m sure it would mean a lot to her if you attended her mating ceremony.” Novak was apparently unaware of his effect on me. “As in, willingly and happily supporting her.”
The words left my mouth before I could fully comprehend what I was asking.
“Will you come with me?”